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"I have never done this before," she said, leaving her team As she walked, a sense of peace spread outward, and I kneere being ics, but I let it happen anyway We needed to be calht become real and half of us could die

Wolf should die, Beast thought at me Thief of meat Stupid pack hunter

"No problem," I said to Soul But it was Her dress et her into the harness in such a way that she could release the harness and fall without catching the clothing on the gear andher

Finally ere in position,trolley, her behindharness, attached to the line with sturdy carabiners I showed her how to release it so she could fall Her scent changed as I spoke, and she tied the end of a scarf to a loop on an to rise

When ere ready, I leaned down to see Eli staring up at me He raised a thumb and melted into the shadows The explosive devices were in place

"Okay," I said "Let’s do this Soul, let the harness take your weight, and put your feet against the roof wall to hold you still" When she was secure, I pulled on gloves, eased down on the line, and hooked my carabiner to the zip-line trolley

"We have to be close," she said, her voice shaky, "for the death spell to start I need to put s around you and hold you to s aroundme in close It was a lot closer thanlike miles away, unless it was a kit or a mate

She said, "Are you ready? This may feelodd"

I nodded, and Soul took a deep breath and said, "The die is cast"

Which made no sense at all For a moment

CHAPTER 22

"Thank You," the Corpse Croaked

The scent of the grave surrounded me first, followed almost instantly by the visual transformation Soul rotted before ed, the fluids and blood pooling with gravity while her eyes dried out I looked at ross

"Hurry," she said, the croak sounding like the dead The stench of her breath made my eyes water, and I pushed off the false ith a thrust of ics of the aug is to gain speed on a doard-sloped line, one can adjust speed with the gloved hand behind the trolley and one’s body position In our case, the line was too gently sloped and I expected that I’d have to pull us along withembraced by a ten-day-old corpse My shove off the as too hard, and I had to brake, one gloved hand on the line, dragging behind the corpse’s carabiner,us stable I was so busy working on the braking that I al over us as we reached the se